Two PhD Fellowships in Place and Displacement: Exhibiting Architecture

The Oslo School of Architecture and Design calls for applications to two full-time Ph.D. fellowships for a three year period starting September 2011. The successful applicants will join the research project Place and Displacement: Exhibiting Architecture. The positions are based at the Institute of Form, Theory and History (FTH), and requires full-time attendance, including participation in the research education program (Ph.D. program).

Place and Displacement investigates various practices of displaying architecture, both in historical and contemporary contexts. The project is hosted by the Oslo Center for Critical Architectural Studies (OCCAS) and involves a wide international network. It is funded by the Norwegian Research Council’s FRIHUM-program for research in the humanities. Project leader is Professor Thordis Arrhenius from FTH. The project includes two senior researchers at AHO, Professor Thordis Arrhenius and Professor Mari Lending, and four guest researches from external institutions. Two closely interlinked strands organise the project. One considers preservation of full-scale architecture in relation to curatorial practices, the other focuses on architectural collections in museum and exhibition displays at any scale. Together they study processes of displacement and exhibition – of full-scale buildings, spoils, models, miniatures and engravings – and their economies of validation and display.

Place and Displacement invites proposals for two Ph.D. projects in thematic areas concerning the exhibition and collection of architecture. Particular priority will be given to projects that consider full-scale practices of preservation and display, and to projects that investigate the historiography of the architectural exhibition. Relevant themes for study include:

the status of architecture when it is shifted from an object of use into one of display

contemporary cultural expressions involving the ‘use’ of the past, such as re-enactment, re-staging and their relating technologies of display

the preservation of architecture and its mediation through exhibitions and display.

the history and historiography of the architectural exhibitions from ‘hyperhistorized’ to forgotten and overlooked cases

the reception of the architectural exhibition in historical and contemporary examples

Requirements:Applicants must hold a Master’s Degree or equivalent in a field of relevance to the project, preferably in architecture, architectural history and theory, art history, heritage studies or museum studies. Priority will be given to applicants with a Master’s Degree in architecture.

The application must include:

An application letter

A fully completed application form (see below)

A tentative project description of maximum 5 pages

Curriculum vitae

Copies of educational certificates (foreign applicants must attach an explanation of their university’s grading system)

2 references or recommendations explaining why, in the referee’s opinion, the candidate is qualified to undertake the prospective research at AHO

If relevant: List of publications and/or academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee

Applicants who do not have English or a Scandinavian language as their mother tongue: documentation of knowledge of English (TOEFL-test or similar)

All documents should be in English or a Scandinavian language.

The material will be assessed according to the following criteria

The quality of the project description and its relevance for the research project

The academic competence of the applicant

The applicant’s suitability within the research project

Position & Salary:Ph.D. Research Fellow (SKO 1017), pay grade: l.tr.48 (383 700,- NOK). Normal employment conditions for state employees apply for the position. AHO has its own company health service.